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President Obama's speech yesterday justifying military action against Libya was "disturbingly empty," writes Andrew Sullivan at his Daily Dish blog in the Atlantic. Notice he didn't try to explain why we're moving against Tripoli but not allies Bahrain or Yemen? That's "because, one suspects, there is no rational reconciliation to be made." Moammar Gadhafi's massacres are awful, but this military intervention makes no sense except on an "emotional" level, and that's not good enough.

Sullivan sees it as a "presidential power-grab," another bad example of the US trying to play global cop despite all the lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, and he thinks Congress should weigh in. "A congressional vote is also important to rein in the imperial presidency that Obama has now taken to a greater height than even Bush. No plane should lift off, no bomb released, until the Congress has voted." Full column here.

....and if Bush had done what Obama just did,.....the left would be screaming bloody murder and demanding a criminal trial and impeachment. The hypocracy is off the charts!

saucier111

Mar 20, 2011 3:02 PM CDT

Its all most 10 years since 9/11 and the truth has never come out,where are all of our great journalist.Why did tower 7 fall all most 7 hours after the north tower fell, tower 7 never got hit.I believe we need to call the pope,It has to be a miracle,first time a steel building ever collapsed from fire,not once but three steel building collapsed in one day.Quick this must be canonize.

andyd66

Mar 20, 2011 9:49 AM CDT

I am a moderate conservative who has become disgusted with the hatred spewing wind-bag Tea party fueled neo-radicalism on the right. This knee-jerk radical rant is a leading example of the GOP's willingness to condemn anything President Obama does regardless of the merits, context, background or sophistication. The guy has essentially done everything, if moderately, the the GOP wants. His gun rights proposals make Reagan look liberal, his immigration policy makes Bush look like a nun and he has quietly signed corporate tax cuts that make Ayn Rand look like a commie. Sadly, the GOP is moving radically right faster than this moderate well, mannered, sober qualified statesman can keep up with. I think Obama is a wonderfully (if Moderately) conservative Presdent, if for no other reason than he continues to refuse to bark back at The TP/GOP. His Libya engagement shows a brilliantly sophisticated ability to filter alarmist cable news reactionism from genuine global and, primary domestic national security challenges. This policy is everything that Cheney's lie induced Iraq campaign was not. It is also, for any conservatives who still use factual history as a reference, a clear improvement on and specific continuation of the first US effort to contain Ghaddaffi. Guess which idolized Republican President initiated that last US bombing of Moammar? The only real difference between Obama's Libya engagement and Reagan's that history will record is that one of them will have succeeded in removing Ghaddaffi from power... the (ex) Cwoboy http://electorama.newsvine.com/